EDITORIAL : THE ARROGANCE OF OFFICE; THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION ON POSSIBLE PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARDS.

WHILE people these days are bombarded with claims and counterclaims about things that supposedly are harmful to their health, most of them have learned to deal with this in a calm and collected way.

Unfortunately, too many individuals in high places think they know what's best, even taking it upon themselves to withhold information on matters involving public health.

That was the case when some state health officials decided to delay release of a study linking the consumption of tap water with high levels of a chlorine byproduct to an elevated incidence of miscarriages until it could be published formally Feb. 18.

The goal apparently was to manage unsettling news so that the ``proper'' spin could be put on the information. But as with most attempts at such manipulation, this one blew up and got into the media in a way that probably created more confusion than if state officials had been candid.

``I have to question what we say to women who had miscarriages in the meantime,'' General Manager David Freeman of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said Tuesday. ``Why didn't the state tell us this when they first had the information?''

Some health officials said they feared that Freeman's statements might discourage pregnant women from drinking enough water. Others seemed to take the position that what you don't know can't hurt you.

The DWP at least offered some advice, suggesting that pregnant women could reduce possibly harmful levels of the byproduct by boiling tap water for one minute before drinking it.

If the information was important enough to share with water and public works officials, it certainly should have been made available to those most directly affected - pregnant women - so they can choose what to do.

Perhaps a miscarriage might not have occurred if the information had been made public.